We have reached double digits in the season previews! Today we continue our awards with sixth man of the year. I hope you enjoy!

Dark Horse – Patrick Beverly

This is why sixth man of the year is so hard to predict. A player you think will not start can start all of a sudden. Beverly will be starting over Austin Rivers, playing along side Milos Teodosic. I thought Teodosic would be starting with Beverly coming off the bench. I made my predictions before the season started, which is why I made this prediction. Anyways, I will explain why I thought he would win the award.

Beverley is very good on the defensive side of the court. We saw this against the Lakers, where he shut down Lonzo Ball. Last year, he played for the Rockets behind James Harden. With Harden on the team, it didn’t give him the same opportunity as the Clippers would. He only averaged 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists. I didn’t think he would be starting, but I thought he would be given more minutes.

Runner-Up – Eric Gordon

Winner of this award as well as the 3-point competition, Eric Gordon has changed his identity since a bad run of form in New Orleans. Playing for Houston, Gordon is one of the best bench players in the NBA. That is why I put him as a runner-up. This season, he has averaged 22.3 PPG. Last year, he averaged 16.2 PPG, shooting 37.2% from 3. Eric Gordon is a player who has a chance to repeat as sixth man of the year. We have seen players such as Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford win the award multiple times. I think Eric Gordon has a large shot to do this, however for know he is a runner-up.

Winner – Tristan Thompson

I have Thompson winning this award, as Kevin Love is taking over the center position. The Cavs in my mind have the deepest bench, meaning they will have success this year from Thompson. Already this season he has recorded 3 near double doubles playing back up for Love. Last year, in 78 games he averaged 8.1 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 1.1 BPG. This season I actually think he will get more points in the box score because he isn’t facing off in the starting lineup against players like Rudy Gobert(Jazz) and Hassan Whiteside(Heat.) He will be facing off against players such as Ekpe Udoh(Jazz) and Kelly Olynyk(Heat.) If your an NBA player and you want to score 20 points in one game, would you rather score against Gobert or Udoh? I would choose scoring against Udoh, I think that is pretty obvious for why I would choose him. Thompson is my winner because he can impact against starters, just imagine his impact against bench players.